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In 1979, Margaret Thatcher’s new government was faced with rampant double-digit inflation, rising unemployment and flatlining economic growth. In response, Thatcher pursued an economic policy which rejected the old orthodoxies and was promoted by only a minority of economists: a policy based on the doctrine of monetarism.
Tim Lankester was the private secretary for economic affairs to Thatcher during the early years of her government. His insider’s account explains her attitudes and decisions and those of the other main players in this deeply damaging experiment in economic policy making, which promised much but completely failed to deliver.
Offering fascinating insights into one of the most unsuccessful episodes of British economic history, he also examines the legacy of monetarism for the economy today.
"Achieves what very few political books do, which is give the ideas of economics a relevance to time and place....explains them clearly and relate(s) them to historical persons set in a lively narrative." Sir Simon Jenkins, journalist and author
"A sparkling tome which illuminates the theory and practice of monetarism and sets out the role of the civil servant even when they have deep misgivings about a policy." Sir Suma Chakrabarti, former President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
"A cautionary tale of correct diagnosis but misguided cure by Mrs Thatcher. It shows convincingly why invoking the mumbo-jumbo of Monetarism was not the way to administer the deflationary policy and change to labour law needed to control the inflation surge she inherited." Marcus Miller, Warwick University
"A breath of fresh thinking ....monetarism of the Thatcher years was a disaster. Sheds so much clear light on the wrong decisions of that era.” Lord Vinson, co-founder of the Centre for Policy Studies.
1. Introduction
2. A view from Number 10
3. Keynes and Friedman
4. The monetarists’ challenge
5. Labour and soft monetarism
6. Mrs Thatcher and hard monetarism
7. Monetarism’s high noon
8. Ending the experiment
9. Counting the cost
10. Mrs Thatcher and the trade unions
11. The quest for an alternative anchor
12. The monetarists and the critics look back
13. The legacy
14. The return to stagflation?
15. Epilogue